UK girl's name
Enola
A feminine given name derived from "alone" spelled backward.
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Enola is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Enola popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #855, with 43 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2023, with 53 births.
This profile covers 325 England and Wales registrations across 23 recorded years from 1997 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 81% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 323 living people in the UK are called Enola. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Enola ranked #855 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 43 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2023, when 53 girls were registered as Enola.
- • About 323 living people in the UK are estimated to have Enola as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#855
2024
Births in 2024
43
Latest year
Peak year
2023
53 births
Estimated living
323
2026
Meaning
What does Enola mean?
The name Enola is derived from the word "alone" spelled backwards. It is believed to have originated in the late 19th or early 20th century, possibly as a invented name or a literary creation. While its origins are not entirely clear, it is thought to have been first used as a given name in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Enola was for Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the American military aviator Paul Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. The bomber was named after his mother, suggesting that she may have been one of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Enola.
Another notable individual with the name Enola was Enola Holmes, a fictional character created by author Nancy Springer in her series of young adult novels. The character is the younger sister of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and is depicted as a highly intelligent and independent young woman who becomes a detective herself.
In the world of literature, Enola was the name of a character in the 1924 novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" by Agatha Christie. This novel marked the introduction of Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot.
Enola was also the name of a character in the 1931 novel "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1932 and is considered a classic of American literature.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Enola was Enola M. Pruitt, an American woman who homesteaded in Oklahoma in the early 20th century. Her memoir, "Letters of a Woman Homesteader," published in 1914, provided a firsthand account of life on the frontier and became a classic of American literature.
While the name Enola may have been invented or derived from a literary source, it has gained popularity over time and is now used as a given name in various parts of the world. However, its origins remain somewhat enigmatic, adding to the unique and intriguing nature of this name.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Enola over time
The chart below shows babies named Enola registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1997 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Enola, the clearest high point is 2023. The latest England and Wales figure is 43 births in 2024, compared with 53 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Enola by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Enola was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #1110 | 193 | 5 |
| 2010s | #2944 | 65 | 7 |
| 2000s | #3340 | 45 | 8 |
| 1990s | #2311 | 22 | 3 |
Related
Names similar to Enola
- Emily 121,621
- Ella 69,101
- Ellie 63,522
- Evie 52,944
- Emma 50,755
- Eleanor 40,576
- Elizabeth 39,225
- Erin 34,816
- Eva 29,738
- Evelyn 26,911
- Elsie 23,671
- Emilia 22,167
FAQ
Enola: questions and answers
How popular is the name Enola in the UK right now?
In 2024, Enola was ranked #855 for girls in England and Wales, with 43 births registered.
When was Enola most popular?
The peak year on record was 2023, with 53 babies registered as Enola in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Enola?
A feminine given name derived from "alone" spelled backward.
How many people are called Enola in the UK?
A total of 325 babies have been registered as Enola across the 23 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.